Our Last Hope
by Vampire Queen of NOLA
Summary: This is from a joint fanfiction with my best friend starring two Shepards- sisters, Caoimhe the elder and Faylinn the younger; Caoimhe the paragon, and Faylinn the renegade. These 'chapters' will be styled as one-shots, following their journey through the storylines of Mass Effect 2 and 3. Will contain all Mass Effect characters in time.


_"Shepard did everything right. More than we could have ever hoped for. Saving the Citadel- but leaving the Council to die. Humanity's place in the galaxy is stronger than ever... and still, it's not enough." _

_"Humans may control the Council, but Shepard remains our best hope." _

_"But they're sending her to fight geth. Geth! We both know they're not the real threat. The Reapers are still out there." _

_"And it's up to us to stop them." _

_"The Council will never trust Cerberus. They'll never accept our help. Even after everything humanity has accomplished. But Shepard... they'll follow her. She's a hero, a bloody icon. But she's just one woman. If we lose Shepard, humanity might well follow." _

_"Then see to it we don't lose her."_

One month after the devastating geth attack on the Citadel, humanity seized political control of the galaxy. Now the human-led Council is forced to respond to evidence that the Reapers- enormous machines that eradicate all advanced civilizations every 50,000 years- have returned. To quell the rumors, the Council has sent Commander Shepard and the Normandy to wipe out the last pockets of geth resistance. Officially, they blame the invasion on the geth and their leader, a rogue Spectre.

But for those who know the truth, the search for answers is just beginning...

_Aboard the Normandy SR-1_

"Disengaging FTL drives. Emission sinks active. Board is green... we are running silent."

The pilot's familiar voice was cut short by none other than Navigator Pressly, who was becoming more and more impatient with each passing day.

"We're wasting our time. Four days searching up and down this sector, and we haven't found any signs of geth activity."

"Three ships went missing here in the past month," Joker countered over his shoulder, barely taking his eyes from the ship's controls. "Something happened to them." Pressly was unimpressed.

"My money's on slavers. The terminus system is crawlin' with them."

"Picking up something on the long-range scanner. Unidentified vessel. Looks like a cruiser." The pilot shook his head as the Ensign reported the anomaly, though he didn't seem terribly worried.

"Doesn't match any known signatures."

"...Cruiser is changing course. Now on intercept trajectory."

"Can't be," Pressly interjected, frowning. "Stealth systems are engaged, there's no way a geth ship could-" But the new ship suddenly had Joker's full attention, and he was quick to say just why.

"It's not the geth. Brace for evasive maneuvers!"

The Normandy SR-1 was known for being the fastest ship around- by a long shot. Joker was the best damn pilot in the Alliance. Such a combination should have steered them clear from harm, but it was too late; the unknown vessel was opening fire on the smaller ship, leaving the crew scrambling. People were being tossed around like rag dolls, the ship jolted with each attack from its assailant, Joker calling out updates as he could- trying desperately to get them out of whatever shitstorm they'd just sailed into.

"Kinetic barriers down! Multiple hull breeches! Weapons offline!" And then, as he finally took true note of the flames beginning to consume the cockpit- "Somebody get that fire out!"

The Normandy was a mass of activity; people running to grab protective gear, uncertain of what to do, some injured and others merely panicked. It was Kaiden Alenko who dared to brave his way through the melee to find the ship's Commander, catching her just as she pulled her helmet into place.

"Shepard!"

"Distress beacon is ready for launch," the commander said as she turned to face him, clearly a lot more collected than anyone else on the ship- except perhaps Joker.

"Will the Alliance get here in time?"

"The Alliance won't abandon us. We just need to hold on. Get everyone onto the escape shuttles." She was constantly moving, snatching up two fire extinguishers and tossing one to Kaiden as she set to using her own.

"Joker's still in the cockpit. He won't abandon ship." Kaiden turned, his expression unreadable through his helmet, though his words said enough- "I'm not leaving either."

Shepard tossed a glance over her shoulder, wincing at the way the ship that had carried her through so many missions was falling apart. She turned, moving past him, pausing for only a moment to offer a pat to his arm- it was meant to reassure him, though she doubted it would work. "I need you to get the crew to the evac shuttles. I'll take care of Joker."

Another explosion, the path to the cockpit nearly blocked now. Kaiden hesitated, uncertain- unwilling to leave.

"Caoimhe..."

"Kaiden, go. _Now._" There was a long moment of hesitation in which the commander had to glance back to even be certain of what the other was doing- once they locked gazes, Kaiden nodded.

"Aye, aye."

_I've survived worse._ It was what she had to tell herself in the midst of this hell- fire all around, consuming the closest thing to home she'd known since she'd become a Spectre. _So much worse._ And this wasn't going to end in death. She wouldn't allow that to happen. Kaiden would rush everyone into the evac shuttles, she'd get Joker's stubborn ass away from the control panel... and they'd all get out. Granted, she'd be the last off of this damn ship if she had anything to say about it, but that was just how things went. _Hell in a handbasket. Yeah, we've got this. We're going to be fine._

Besides, Faylinn would _kill_ her if she died out here.

Caoimhe twisted her head as she heard the controls for the shuttles- good. People were getting out. Hopefully it was only herself and Joker left- two people to a shuttle, _if_ she could haul his ass off-ship without knocking him out cold. He was more attached to the Normandy than she was. And despite the explosions, the heat from the flames all over- the noise was a comfort. People were safe. Ducking her head, she began to make her way through the passageways of the Normandy, dodging whenever she felt another explosion. Overhead, she could hear Joker's attempts to contact someone- anyone- via com.

_"Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is SSV Normandy! We've suffered heavy damage from an unknown enemy!"_

The stairs, good. Not far now.

_"Come on, baby, hold together... hold together..."_

The central navigations area of the ship was the worst- a gigantic hole blown clear through, the room drained of gravity and oxygen. _Damnit._ It would be slow going, both ways. But still, she was undeterred- moving as fast as she could in the atmosphere, pushing chairs aside as she made her way to the cockpit. Seeing the pilot, at last, was a comfort- hell, who would've known she'd ever find his face to be such a relief?

"Come on, Joker, we've got to get out of here."

"No! I won't abandon the Normandy! I can still save her!" His fingers still flew over the console, desperate, faster than she'd ever seen them work.

"The Normandy's lost. Going down with the ship won't change that."

"Yeah... okay. Help me up."

Caoimhe was all too happy to oblige him. The pilot, a victim of Vrolick's, wouldn't make it through on his own, though it wasn't something the commander was willing to point out. She had too much respect for him to insult him like that. She did, however, falter for a split moment when he spoke again. "They're coming around for another attack!" They both turned just in time to see the bridge blown to hell- but they could still make it. In too much of a hurry to treat Joker as a fragile thing, she grabbed for him- "Ow! Watch the arm!"- and began to half-carry, half-support him through the ship with her as fast as she could manage.

She managed to help him into an escape shuttle, but things were never this easy.

She should have known from the start.

She could hear his frantic shouting as an explosion sent her careening from the door, scrambling to grab anything she could.

_"Commander!"_

Another explosion.

_"Shepard!"_

The final blast was the worst, the one to completely decimate what was left of the Normandy and send Caoimhe spiraling into the darkness around her- but not before she slammed her fist against the shuttle controls, sealing the shuttle and hopefully sending it off. _Joker... did he...?_ He must have. He was in the shuttle.

_Shit. My suit._

It was malfunctioning. She was losing oxygen.

_No!_

She was going to die out here. It was a fact, a sudden revelation that didn't do anything to stop her struggles as she floated helplessly Still, even as she began to gasp for breath, lose precious oxygen-

_They're safe. They're okay. They all made it out. That's... that's what matters..._

**LCDR SHEPARD, CAOIMHE:**

MISSING IN ACTION

**UPDATE****: LCDR SHEPARD, CAOIMHE:**

KILLED IN ACTION

The longer that Faylinn stared at the words, the less sense they made to her. Caoimhe...couldn't be dead. She was indestructible. She was Commander Fucking Shepard, and she was the strongest woman alive out of any race. She couldn't be fucking _dead._ It wasn't possible, and Faylinn wasn't going to believe it.

Her gaze never wavered from that piece of paper, all clean-cut lines and black lettering on stark white, the Alliance symbol plastered obscenely in the top right-hand corner. It felt so...cold. So _blank,_ for the woman who had been so very warm and vibrant herself. _Killed in action._

While her brain was playing catch-up, Faylinn's heart shuddered and split in half. She was the last remaining Shepard, and she didn't know what the fuck to do. Part of her wanted very dearly to properly mourn - to break down and sob until she couldn't feel anymore. The other part, the soldier, told her she couldn't.

So, she didn't.

She did, however, pick up the small memory box that contained a holo of her older sister and slid it into her pocket. As her fingers squeezed down over the small lump, she swallowed hard and looked out the window without seeing, her mind on red hair and eyes that matched her own.

_"Officer Shepard? The Council wishes to see you."_


End file.
